Transcription
Hello everybody and welcome into Commodity Culture, where we break down commodities markets, sound money principles, and geopolitics, all with the goal of making you a better investor in the commodities sector.
Today is December 22nd, 2025. I'm joined by Ian Everard, precious metals enthusiast and analyst, as well as the owner of Arc Silver Gold Osmium. We're focusing on a metal called Rhenium today. It's one that not a lot of stackers have heard about, but that they should have their eyes on. Prices are up quite high so far this year. It's vital for industry and yet very limited supply. Ian Everard is one of the few bullion dealers who sells physical Rhenium. We're going to break down this unique metal and why it might be next to go parabolic. Ian, it is great to have you on the show again.
Thank you, Jesse. Well, let's talk about Rhenium first in the context of gold and silver because as we're recording today, recently, uh, gold and silver hit new all-time highs. Silver surpassed $69. I think it's maybe settled to around $68 at present. Gold also achieving new all-time highs. In this context, break down how Rhenium fits into the picture for us because it's a metal that's not on most people's radars and yet, as you mentioned, it's up tremendously, outperforming gold so far this year. So talk to us about that.
Yeah, sure. On the rolling year, it's about, and depends obviously which point you take, but to be fair, if we do a 12-month rolling year, Rhenium is up over 76%, and I think gold is just around this the high 60s. Um, and and that is just because generally of the industrial dynamics. I mean, the investment world is having an effect. Um, our company and our clients have got substantial positions now. Full, full disclosure. Um, China, metals investors, and other, you know, private investors are buying heavily, and the Chinese government are buying an incredible click.
Wow, that's really interesting. Now, let's, I do want to dive more into the market dynamics for Rhenium a little bit later, but first, help us understand the metal and its main industrial uses, why it is so valuable, and why it's presenting an opportunity right now to investors and stackers.
Sure. Uh, it's new in the in the world of physics and chemistry and metallurgy. It was only isolated officially 100 years ago. Um, and pretty early on, about 40 plus years ago, in the development of jet engines, they were looking to how can you make the hot part, the engine run hotter without the turbine blades melting, bending, breaking, failing? And they tried all sorts of alloys, and then they tried Rhenium, and ever since they've been using Rhenium, and in the alloy mix, they're getting a a much higher efficient efficiency from the engine, which basically, as I just said, the hotter you can run the hot part, uh, the more efficient you can make the engine, the more power output. And also for the military applications, which aren't necessarily so interested in efficiency, the greater thrust you can get for the for the engine. So really, industry is hooked, hooked on it. And I would say had no, no reason, it had no grounds to get hooked on something that is so scarce because we could get to, and I think, and I think I can prove with statistics, facts, and figures and research, we've got to a point now that demand is exceeding the supply.
Well, walk us through those facts, figures, and and research that you've done that lead you to believe that um demand is now outpacing supply, and in such a scenario, what could that do to the price?
So the first time it was officially isolated, some German scientists took some ore from near the river Rhine and they processed 680 kilos and extracted one gram of Rhenium. So that that's one, you you do that figure, it is a tiny amount. So it's never going to be mined from an ore. Even though there are Rhenium-bearing ores, it's at such a low concentration, it would put the price up to probably 10 times the price of gold to extract it from a Rhenium-bearing ore. So almost all the world's production is a byproduct of a byproduct. So some copper deposits have Molybdenum in, and some of that Molybdenum has Rhenium in. And when they're refining the Molybdenum, they collect the flue gas, and from that flue gas, they condense it and extract the Rhenium. Um, this equates to around 50, some some figures you'll see 60 tons a year, some will say 48. So a ballpark 50 tons a year um production as a byproduct of a byproduct. I like that characteristic because it is not really a meaningful byproduct um financially for a copper mine. The copper mine is going to mine the copper whether they get any Rhenium or not, and they're not going to mine twice as much copper to get twice as much Rhenium.
And then I, I want to touch on the price of Rhenium before we dive into how the current supply chain is set up because it doesn't have a futures market. There's not really a spot market as far as I know, or or is there? How, how do you keep track of the price? What is the track? What is the price as of today, and and how can investors wrap their heads around around the pricing mechanism for this commodity?
Sure. So there's two, two industry measures. Um, sometimes you can get information about subscribing, sometimes you can't. One is called Fast Markets, and then there's another industry subscription service called Argus. So they tend to look back at the last month's transactions. They give the low, the medium, and the highest price um proven transaction, you know, from from one of the key, key suppliers and key users. So they're always backward-looking on on what the price was last month. Um, also, you can follow um a competitor of ours, Strategic Metals Invest. Um, I think they're publishing about $4,700 a kilo as of today.
So, what were the main things that coalesced in your mind when you first discovered Rhenium, when you first came into understanding the setup for it, the scarcity of it? What made you think this is a metal that I really need to get involved in?
Uh, one, because uh, precious metal stackers were unaware of it. It, it's been available as a hobbyist metal where you buy a tiny little cube or a sintered bead, you'll pay a lot for it per kilo, and it's only of value to another hobbyist. Now, my passion is silver, still is silver, and I love that we can, as stackers, still buy it close to the artificially low commodity price. Um, so that was a main attraction to me. I found three suppliers who are willing to trade with me both ways. Um, we agreed this, uh, before we even started purchasing, that they will work closely with us to to sell to us and to buy back to sell it back into industry. So the dynamics there are are really good. Plus, it's a US-centric market. Um, with our aviation, military use, space use, medical use, electronics use, and oil refinery use, 75% of the world's Rhenium gets used here in the US. Yet we only produce 30% of the world's Rhenium. So for a US investor, it is a perfect setup because if you accumulate it physically here in the US, it doesn't have to cross a border. Now, some of these other rare elements, you might try and, you know, source them in China or or or wherever. At some point, it could get hard, if not impossible, or very expensive for certain metals to cross borders. So, I like that dynamic. We are entering into a deglobalization stage. I think unfortunately, we're entering into a ramping up of military equipment, fighter jets, missiles. We're also well in the throes of a massive growth of satellites. You have Starlink, you have the European satellite network, India, China. Um, I think even the UK is thinking about doing its own network. So, you know, thousands and thousands of satellites being launched. They all have a little bit of Rhenium in the vectoring nozzles for the the little rockets they have to position their um orbit. Um, and they expire, and when a satellite expires, they drop it down till it burns up, and hopefully not too much falls to the ground. The Rhenium is lost. Um, give an example of that. SpaceX are retiring between three to four satellites a day, every day. Um, so I like that dynamic. Um, I also like the dynamic where it's used as a catalyst. Its second largest use is in oil refinery for boosting the octane rating of gasoline. It's called a catalyst, but 10% is lost every recycling process. And here in the US, we are hooked on big V8 engines, big SUVs, big trucks. We're going to keep burning gasoline till doomsday. So therefore, Rhenium is being destroyed and aggressively so in the American market.
Yeah, there's some very interesting points, and that kind of dovetails into the fact that the EV market does not have near the penetration that was predicted a few years ago, and obviously the Trump administration has even come out and said we want consumers to be able to choose. And I think around the world, we're just seeing an overall, not not outright rejection of electric vehicles. You know, hybrids are very interesting, but much less sales than people anticipated. There's some exceptions. China obviously having a very strong EV market, but that's interesting to note, uh, regarding that particular aspect of Rhenium usage. Let's talk about how the current supply chain is set up. You, you mentioned around 30% of it is produced in the United States. Where else is it produced, and and what, um, what vulnerabilities does the current supply chain present to to getting a hold of supplies, considering like you said, that the majority of it is used in America?
Sure. Um, the best figures I can get, 49% is produced in Chile, and that is through one company called Molibdenos y Metales. So yes, I mean, Chile is subject to earthquakes. Um, South America is subject to political issues. Um, I mean, if the US does start a war, Venezuela, who, who knows what's going to happen? Will the whole South America team up and close the Mexican border? It may sound crazy, but there is a possibility we could lose access to the Chilean um Rhenium. Um, and so that's 49, say 50%. 30% from the US, that's 80% total. The remaining 20% comes from Poland and Kazakhstan. Well, we're not actually being that friendly with Europe at the moment. Uh, so it's, um, Europe might decide, you know, we're going to keep this for our military industry, and and we've got to shift. Um, countries that were buying um the F-series fighter jets are now looking to buy European options, the French Mirage, the Swedish Griffin. Uh, we got to switch there. And don't forget, everybody thinks Britain is a basket case. Uh, Britain is a major arms manufacturer and a m and a major um engine, aircraft engine manufacturer. Uh, Rolls-Royce uses up to 18 tons of Rhenium a year.
Well, what is the best way to get exposure to this metal? Because obviously you sell it in physical form, which is one option. There's obviously no ETFs out there. Are there companies that mine it? Is there any way outside of the physical, um, to get exposure, or or is that the, the kind of sole and the best way to do it?
To to get direct exposure? Yeah, because it wouldn't work buying a copper mine that produces Rhenium as a tiny byproduct. I mean, possibly you could get some some booster, but you're not going to get the leverage like you might on a silver mine or a gold mine. Um, there are no funds, there are no b, there is no futures, so no one is um artificially manipulating the price by going long or going short and messing around like they have been with the silver price. So, yeah, in my opinion, the the only way to um purchase it is to take physical possession.
Now, with its great importance in in military as a strategic metal, has Rhenium been added to the critical minerals list in the United States, and and if not, do you think that will be a step that will happen moving forward, as well as potentially being stockpiled as a strategic metal by not only the US but perhaps other nations as well?
Um, it has been added, uh, recently, when silver was returned to its rightful place on the critical list. Yes. Yeah.
And what about other countries? Because China must obviously be aware of Rhenium's importance at present. And of course, we've seen them um execute export restrictions on rare earths. They're doing kind of a soft export controls on silver starting next year. Do you think Rhenium is on their radar, and and what is China's role in this market? Do they produce any? Do they stockpile any, as far as you're aware? And and how do you see all that playing out?
No, absolutely. Uh, China doesn't produce any. So they import, um, a lot of people asked me early on, we started this Rhenium journey in September last year, why have you noticed it and no one else noticed it? Why isn't why aren't other people selling it? Why aren't other people saying, look, this is a good opportunity? And I, I said, well, you know, I said, well, I don't know, but does it mean it isn't? Because it appears only I've seen it. China's been aware of this for a long time. Um, it came out late last summer at a conference that they bought 26 tons in 2023, and that was at a time when China's use was 1.8 tons a year. Uh, so that's a known transaction. So they basically bought the whole annual output of Chile. Um, and this was Chile and Rhenium they bought. And I also know from close colleagues on the ground in Poland, in Germany, and in China, and in the US, uh, China is using agents to secure Rhenium in any form they can, in the pure pellet form, in the powder form, in scrap form, in, uh, APR form, and they are paying way over the the day-to-day market price, and Rhenium is flowing into China. It's not coming out.
Very interesting. Now, the question a lot of people will have on their minds is, this whole setup sounds very interesting. I could purchase some physical Rhenium, but as you are one of the few, uh, dealers in the United States that sells the physical product, how do you sell? How do you exit your position once you've made the the profits that you think, um, you, you should have? Do they have to sell it back to you? Are there other options? Can they fly over to China with this stuff and maybe hit up the government there? How, how can they offload when, when that time comes?
I would really rather it didn't go to China. I would really rather be, because um, the Department of Logistic Acquisitions, so that's a US agency that is supposed to be securing critical metals for industry and military use, have put out requests now totaling the sum of 58 tons. So the US wants to acquire a strategic stockpile. Um, so, yeah, circling back to how, what's your exit plan? So, yes, it, it's not as liquid as your kilo of silver, you know, but at the moment, this the spread is actually narrower. Unfortunately, if you go to the average coin shop and take a kilo bar of silver, and some are offering $5, $6, $9 back of spot. So the spread on silver is absolutely appalling now. So silver is not practically liquid because I don't think something's liquid until it's a three or 4% spread. I think that's probably a fair definition of a tangible asset. So, yes, at the moment, uh, the most convenient way is to call us up at Arc and say, what will you bid me for? How many kilos you've got? Or should we want to know that you purchased it from us? Because we have the proof, we have the lot numbers, we have the independent analysis certificates, because there's a lot of dodgy stuff out there. You can go and get it on Alibaba and you will have no idea what you're getting, and you won't be able to sell it. But especially if you've got a small quantity, because it's, it's about $2,500 to $4,000 to get a sample analyzed and to to prove what the impurities are. So, this is going to be a deal breaker for a lot of people, which is absolutely fine. Because I mean, there's a kilo jar, okay? It's not full to the top. That's pure sintered pellets from the wonderful people at Titan in Pennsylvania. Minimum 49 fine with the batch number. So, there's 1 kilo. There's only 50,000 of these produced per year from from byproduct. So only 50,000 people in the US, if private investors bought all of the world output. So most stackers are never even going to have the opportunity to buy some. So I, I think the ones that choose to do it understand it's not as instantly salable, possibly. Um, you, you'll be fine.
And what do you think are the main catalysts moving forward for the metal? Uh, obviously you mentioned had incredible performance so far this year. Do you think we see that big supply squeeze in 2026, and and is that kind of the main driver right now? Just the lack of supply versus demand? Are there any other catalysts that you see on the horizon?
Yes, I mean, that's the fundamental. The demand is greater than supply, and the demand is rising. Um, but what is also fascinating, all of our uses are high-value uses. So that it's a multi-trillion dollar business. Um, products that are made that have to have Rhenium in in the US, trillions and trillions of dollars of airplanes, of missiles, of refineries, electronics, medical uses. So normally, the cure for high prices is high prices. As the price rises, the lower value uses drop off, so therefore the demand drops a little bit, and you reach an equilibrium. From what I've worked out and what I look at, Rhenium can only reach an equilibrium either if the world ceases to exist as we know it, and we stop building planes and weapons. Um, probably will cease to exist because we do build too many weapons, but um, so the way I look at it is ratios. And if you look at the ratio, I did write down the price per kilo, gold. So gold is $142,600 and something dollars per kilo. Gold is undervalued compared to the dollar. Um, silver is $2,213 a kilo. And silver, in my opinion, is undervalued compared to gold. Platinum is $66,000 and something a kilo, and undervalued compared to silver. Rhenium is $4,400, and undervalued drastically compared to platinum. So in my opinion, you know, and I would love somebody to call me up and prove to me that I'm wrong, Rhenium is the most undervalued metal.
Very fascinating. Now, as part of a stacking strategy, how would you recommend somebody incorporate Rhenium? Is this kind of a material that you've already got a significant gold and silver stack, and you're kind of diversifying? Is this something that you would be comfortable um allocating a larger position of your stack to? What are your thoughts there?
It's obviously personal choice. Um, I always strongly suggest that people have a good core position of silver, and I've been doing that since um 2017, and it's served those people very well. Um, and if you do need to raise a little bit of dollars for rainy day expenditure or whatever, you can sell a bit of silver down, and if you bought it in 2017 at $15, you're not too unhappy with a four and a half times gain. Um, so the advantage of having a mix of metals is you can choose, you can choose what you sell, to whom you sell, and when you sell it, and why you sell it. So you're covering some of the future unknowns. Um, you know, I mean, gold is useful because it's wealth dense, and generally it's a lower spread as a percentage, you know, especially if you're connected with a good dealer. You're only going to lose about 1%. You know, between retail and and sell, it's a very low. So, a little bit of gold is great. Um, we recently had a guy, he needed to raise $1.2 million. Um, so he sold some gold kilos, and he, he wanted to sell the silver, and I said, "No, don't. It's not the time to sell your silver." So if you've got a mix, you can time the moves a lot better, you know, to get that multiplication. Um, so I forgot what the question was now.
It was um, it was how, how to kind of strategize in terms of adding it to your stack, whether you want to commit more, more percentage, or whether you want to just have it as kind of some diversification.
So, yes, I mean, a lot of personal choices on which metal to buy and when, and which metal to sell and when. Having a variety gives you more choices. I mean, I, everybody was saying platinum, you know, is a metal to buy, a metal to buy, but it just went sideways for so long, it got depressing for most people, and a lot of people exited around $900. Now, what are we? $280? Um, so if you, if you kept a little bit of platinum, and you needed to raise, you could sell a little bit of platinum now. Um, so a, a variety is is good. Um, but with a core of silver, I still fundamentally think, you know, as a long-term permanent holding, silver is the ideal metal.
And so what type of units of Rhenium does ARC SGO sell? Uh, what, what is the unit size? What is the current price? And and how can people get a hold of you to purchase some?
Sure. We're selling at quarter kilo, half kilo, 1 kilo, 10 kilo, and 20 kilo units. Um, we are not surcharging for the smaller units. Everybody gets the same price per kilo. And at the moment, um, as of the time of this um interview, we're $4,400 a kilo.
Great. Well, of course, the Arc, Silver, Gold, Osmium number will be on the bottom of the screen, as well as email. Um, definitely reach out to Ian. Um, he'll, he'll help you out with your stack, not only with Rhenium, but with gold, silver, osmium, other bullion products, platinum. Um, before I do let you go, Ian, I just want to end by opening the floor to you. Is there anything else you'd like to discuss, or anything that we've discussed already you'd like to emphasize when it comes to Rhenium and the opportunity that it's presenting right now?
Yeah, it's something that I knew and sort of forgotten, just recently relearned, is to keep looking at the ratios of how metals are because you wouldn't have thought that platinum is about the lowest the it's been, the mo it's the most undervalued now compared to silver with with all of its recent rise. It, it, it's got a, you know, so platinum has got a long way to go. So, so on that note, that requires study. You've got to do a bit of research, pull up the ratio charts, keep an eye on them. So I mentioned earlier how I think Rhenium is undervalued compared to platinum, platinum is undervalued compared to silver, is undervalued compared to gold, and gold is undervalued compared to the dollar. But what is most undervalued in the western world is education. You know, educate yourself. Don't rely on people like me who are selling this stuff. I, I make a living by selling this stuff. Don't rely, use it as, use it as a point of reference, research, u contradict, or yeah, cooperate. You know, I have many clients who send me articles, and then I learn a lot more about Rhenium, and and I've been studying it pretty well every day for over a year now, and I have a full-time assistant. All they do is study the Rhenium market. So education is the most undervalued thing in the western world. Um, so if somebody says to you, you know, a friend, I can't afford to stack, you can afford to spend an hour a day educating yourself. You can do that because it's free.
Yeah, a great message. Um, and once again, guys, the number is on your screen right now for Arc Silver Gold Osmium, along with the email address. Reach out to Ian, uh, one of the most trusted bullion dealers in the United States. I get nothing but great feedback about working with him. I've had some of his competitors on this show, I won't mention who, but they had amazing things to say about him as well. So, definitely reach out. Um, thank you so much, Ian, for coming on and and sharing your knowledge about Rhenium.
Thank you, Jesse.
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